My Ever Changing Journey
When I started this blog, it was about documenting my journey of going full-time in an RV; it’s almost been a year; lots have happened and I’m finding myself having to re-evaluate my plans.
My original plan was to get an RV and become a nomad traveling around the country, working remotely, and seeing the sights. Since then, my company closed its doors on July 26th and I am now without a paycheck. I have picked up some contract work which I am thankful for, but along the way, the job market has become extremely tight and I haven’t had luck finding anything new. A few months ago, a recruiter reached out about a company here in Reno, but they wouldn’t allow me to work remotely. I am ok with it if the role comes about, but this means working remotely from the road doesn’t look like it’s something I’ll be doing in the near future.
When I first heard about the closure of my company, I didn’t dwell on it, in truth, I thought maybe the company would be purchased and our jobs would be saved; nope that didn’t happen. The job mentioned above came about, then I was passed over and once again I had no prospects. Over the past few weeks, the job came back around; seems like the person who they offered it to, backed out so now it may be back in my lap. During this time I went into “ignore” mode, I didn’t want to have to face not having a job at my age, and in the market we are in, I knew it could take a long time before I would secure an interview. All the plans I started to put in place were pulled out from under me.
A couple of months ago I contacted Escape Trailers to push my delivery date out until next year, I figured this would give me enough time to get my plans back on track. Two weeks ago, I contacted them again and canceled my order. This to me felt more final, but during the past few months I had to face the reality that at the moment I couldn’t purchase the RV and if I landed a job, I may not have the ability to work full-time from the road.
So what’s my go-forward plan? I’m glad I’ve had this little reprise. I have a habit of jumping into something, thinking I’ve given it a thorough thinking through, but most of the time, I don’t, it’s how I’ve owned so many new cars over the years. I’ve started to rethink my RV needs. If you read my other posts you know I initially settled on an Escape 21NE.
from Escape website
There were a lot of reasons for this choice, mainly being a good size for living full-time in and made of fiberglass all explained in this post The Hunt for the Perfect Camper. I’ve since come back around to one camper I initially looked at when my search began nuCamp Tab 400 BD. I have to admit I didn’t dig deep into this brand, thinking it was made by one of those manufacturers that pushed out shit products, but since then I’ve dug deeper.
The nuCamp Story
Our story begins in the heart of Ohio Amish country. A minister by calling, and a plumber by trade, at the age of 44, Joe Mullet found himself building lawn furniture. While he was committed to both quality and innovation, he was longing for something more, something different.
In 2004, Joe was presented with the opportunity to build teardrop trailers – and a new journey began. Within one year, Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers was officially founded, and the boutique operation moved out of Joe’s garage and into a 3,000-square-foot shop with a small team of local craftsmen.
Joe was intentional about creating a culture that cared deeply – not only for his team, but also for the product and the customer. From that first full year, when the company hand-built 50 campers, it continued to grow the product offering, factory size, and workforce.
Success followed over the next few years; however, as the recession of 2008 took its toll on the industry, Pleasant Valley joined dozens of other RV manufacturers and was forced to close its doors. The same day, opportunity came knocking, and within a matter of months, Joe was able to get back on his feet, reassemble his team, and start anew – this time with the assistance of a national distributor.
In the years that followed, the company acquired the rights to build the iconic TAB Teardrop Camper, created the TAG Teardrop Trailer, and ventured into a new world with the Cirrus Truck Camper. As Pleasant Valley found itself outgrowing the need for a distributor and increasingly stepping into the limelight, the company knew it was time to rebrand. The name nuCamp was selected as the company sought to honor the community’s German heritage, celebrate its new beginnings and tip its hat to the industry.
With the mission ‘to build the exceptional’ nuCamp has intentionally chosen to place quality and customer care squarely at the center of everything they do. Perhaps that is why nuCamp continues to hold the title as the world’s largest manufacturer of teardrop trailers.
So you may ask, “Brett, you made so much about fiberglass campers, is this made of fiberglass?”. Well, yes and no. The side walls are fiberglass, but the roof is a single sheet of aluminum and while I’m not a big fan of aluminum, it is one single sheet which means no seams. I’ve dug deeper into reviews and the nuCamp’s are made well. This doesn’t mean there won’t be problems, but I feel good about this being the new choice. It is smaller than the Escape, but since I won’t be “full-time”, I think I can deal. It will be easier to tow with my Jeep as it’s lighter and I think as a solo camper, I’ll be able to manage it much easier than the Escape.
The video and these two photos were taken from the nuCamp website.
There is a boondock version which means it comes with more lift, better tires and upgraded batteries, and solar inverter. What is boondocking? Boondocking or dry camping just means going off grid. So having a better solar package is a must; though in truth I don’t see myself as a big boondocker, but you never know where the adventures will take me, when I get to the adventure!
I found a dealer here in Reno and went to see one last weekend. It does feel tight inside, but I think it would work. It has a full bed and a bath so I can sleep and poop in comfort. If I get a job and I need to maintain my apartment here in Reno, I can store it pretty easily and take it out on weekends and on my vacation, and in time, maybe I can work it so I could work from the road occasionally. When I retire in a few years if I want to go full-time, I can stay with this rig or go bigger, but I’ll have had a couple of years to learn to RV. I just wonder if I can put a sign in the window that says “Student Driver”.
The first photo and this one were taken off my balcony.
So as I wait to see about the “potential” job, I’ve put my sights on next year’s model. This company is known to come out with nice upgrades each year so I’m excited about what those will be. Stay Tuned.